Ways of Dealing with Conflict

Hi LINC 7 Students,

According to Thomas Kilmann’s model, there are five basic modes of handling conflict that result from the amount of assertiveness and cooperation you employ. Each of us tend to have a natural, default mode we use when faced with conflict, but that particular mode isn’t always appropriate for every situation. 

The key to effectively managing conflict is to understand which mode is most appropriate for the situation -- given the outcomes you’re trying to achieve. 

The five modes of managing conflict are accommodating, avoiding, collaborating, compromising and competing.

I'd like each of you to take an online survey (of 25 questions) -- in order to determine which of these is your natural or "default" method of dealing with conflict. This should take you about 15 minutes. When you are finished, you can click on submit and you'll get personal feedback based on your individual answers. This is free!

It's important to write down your results -- and you may even want to print the information you get. Please bring this to class on Wednesday, so you can discuss your style compared to your classmates! 

 http://academic.engr.arizona.edu/vjohnson/ConflictManagementQuestionnaire/ConflictManagementQuestionnaire.asp

The Psychology of Goal-setting

Hi LINC 7 Students,

It's easy, when we set goals (a useful activity), to use those same goals as a way to be hard on ourselves (not a useful activity). But please don't let goal-setting become a method of developing self-hate -- if you're not able to "meet" the goals you have set for yourself. Please.

Below are some links to information on this key topic. The common theme is that self-compassion is the antidote (solution) to the problem of self-hate, which is so common in western culture.

Self-hatred almost always starts in childhood. Children believe what they hear from others. If a parent tells a child that she is "good for nothing" or "You can’t do anything right," then that becomes the truth in the child’s mind.

It takes a very mature and insightful child to say to herself, “Something is wrong with Mom/Dad for telling me this. An adult shouldn’t say such mean things to me. I’m just a child.” Instead of saying, “Something is wrong with Mom/Dad,” the child usually thinks, “Something is wrong with me.” This is the beginning of the self-hate cycle.

http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/how-to-turn-self-hatred-into-self-compassion-1112135

Many of us resort to self-hating (which is sometimes called self-loathing) as a way to find motivation in our desire to improve. Whether it’s wanting to lose weight, get a promotion, or improve our English skills, we seem to think that we can "hate" ourselves into doing it.

One of the main reasons people choose to be hard on themselves is because they fear that they won’t motivate themselves enough if they don’t. But that fear, and the "tough-love" that follows, can be unhealthy. Trying to get motivated with self-hate can cause needless anxiety and worrying, and can even sabotage your actions.

While you may fear that you’ll be “too soft” on yourself without your constant criticisms and doubts, there is an ever-increasing body of research that supports the motivational power of self-compassion.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kayla-matthews/how-to-tell-if-youre-self-loathing-and-what-to-do-about-it_b_6042452.html

People who are self-compassionate set higher goals for themselves, aren’t afraid to set goals when they fail, are motivated by the desire to learn and grow, and are able to stick to goal specific behaviors like exercising or practicing their English!

3 Goal Setting Videos

Hello LINC 7 Students,

Here's the homework for tonight.

Complete the handout sheet by watching these three videos:

Dave from 5 Rules. dbw53022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmOS3dj9h0s&feature=youtu.be

How to Write Smart Goals McMasterU TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFT6uP1fIFI&feature=youtu.be

Explaining how to Set SMART Goals Curriculum Wadhwani

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6o5PyJM3bY&feature=youtu.be

Gender Discrimination

Hi LINC 7 Students,

We were discussing gender discrimination in class today. Here's the link to the government of Canada website that has lot of data about many issues, including the "gender gap" in wages in countries around the world.

Here's part of the information on this site:

"The factors affecting income include job experience, education and tenure (how long the employee has worked for a company). Although women continue to catch up with men in the labour force, and have for the most part they have caught up with men in educational attainment, the wage gap has remained largely unchanged since the 1990s."

Some Good Links for YOU

Hello LINC 7 Students,

In clarifying your SMART goals for this month and this term, I'd like you to check on certain websites that may be useful for you.

1. http://www.esl-lab.com/

This site has a lot of great listening quizzes to help you improve your listening skills. Choose from either the medium or difficult categories. You can commit to doing one or two quizzes every day for the next month. That will improve your listening for sure! A measurable result would be moving from the "medium" quizzes to the "difficult" quizzes in one month!


2.  http://www.elllo.org/

Here's another website that has some great listening activities. Check it out. There's ESL material from around the world here! Yeah!  Here's a link to a conversation about "helicopter parents" and "tiger moms"! Do you know what we mean when we use these terms / idioms?


3.   http://www.cbc.ca/news

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is a trusted source of news and current affairs. Any news story that affects Canadians should be covered on this website. For example, actress Meryl Streep made international news when she criticized Donal Trump's behaviour in her speech at the Golden Globe awards on Sunday. Here's the link to this story.


4.  http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/eal/

CBC Manitoba has excellent materials for newcomers. There are 99 current events stories about Canadians and Canadian issues! Check out this link to a story on a former Somali refugee who is helping to raise money to establish a pre-school in a refugee camp in Kenya.


5.   http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/index.html

Another great website! Check out the latest story on how zombies could wipe out the human race in 100 days! Yikes! Fortunately, they have happy stories as well! The site offers different reading speed, text of the script and different accents of English.

SMART Goals

Hi Everyone,

This week, we are moving into goal-setting.

It's important to make sure your goals are specific, measurable attainable. realistic and time-bound.

Here's the link to the video on SMART Goals.

Here's the link to a web-page of text explaining SMART Goals.

Welcome to 2017!

Happy New Year, LINC 7 Students!

We were discussing various types of intelligence today. 

Here is the list of types of intelligence provided by Howard Gardner...

Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences was developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University. It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead,

Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are:

• Linguistic intelligence ("word smart")
• Logical-mathematical intelligence ("number/reasoning smart")
• Spatial intelligence ("picture smart")
• Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence ("body smart")
• Musical intelligence ("music smart")
• Interpersonal intelligence ("people smart")
• Intrapersonal intelligence ("self smart")
• Naturalist intelligence ("nature smart")

Dr. Gardner says that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic (good at talking) and logical-mathematical intelligence (good at science/technology/computers). We honour and respect the highly articulate and logical people of our culture.

However, Dr. Gardner says that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live.